A HAMPSHIRE woman came agonisingly close to winning one of the most prestigious events in the equestrian calendar last weekend.

Vittoria Panizzon, 20, won the silver medal in the European Young Rider Three Day Event Championship in Poland.

She led after the dressage and cross-country phases and jumped clear in the show jumping element but was penalised for not completing the course in time and lost out to a German rider by less than two points.

Though she was competing for Italy, Vittoria lives at Easton and keeps her horse, a seven-year-old bay called Rock Model, at nearby Avington Park House where he was bred by Sarah Bullen.